Michael Mason, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham has overseen a £16 million refurbishment of the facility but as he told Duncan Tift, he has more than professional pride at stake in its success.
Michael Mason is a busy man. Overseeing virtually every facet of a £16 million refurbishment of iconic city centre hotel, the Crowne Plaza, means time is at a premium.
With just a week to go before completion there is still a lot to be done - these final tasks are often the most time consuming because they are unexpected. Therefore taking two hours out of his working day to chat to me is a luxury I am sure he can ill afford.
However, 29 years in the hotel trade has taught him a lesson or two and if he is irked or distracted then he shows no trace.
Instead, he is the perfect host - greeting me for coffee in the revamped lounge area, we have a quick chat before relocating to one of the newly fitted out rooms on the tenth floor of what could arguably be said to be, the city’s best known hotel.
Activity is frenetic in the lounge area as last minute preparations are made to accommodate the first of the delegates heading into the city for the important Conservative Party Conference.
The hotel had hoped to have the refurbishment work completed in time for what is, one of the premier events in the city’s calendar.
However, as is often the case, the work has run over-schedule and won’t be completed for another week - the official relaunch of the hotel is set for Tuesday.
“It’s a little disappointing because we have had to turn away bookings for fringe meeting but then, there’s nothing we can do about that now - we have to focus on the future,” he says.
If his tone seems matter-of-fact then it’s because he has been through all this before and doesn’t seem phased by it in the slightest.
Much of it stems from his experience immediately prior to taking over as General Manager at the Crowne Plaza.
“I was working for Forte Crest and an opportunity came up to head up the refurbishment of the company’s hotel at Heathrow. It was one of the company’s iconic hotels and with 610 rooms one of the largest in the group.
“It was originally supposed to be a six month secondment but it ended up taking three years, partly because half way through we had to carry out a major rebranding when Forte Crest was acquired by Intercontinetal.
“It was heartbreaking - I’d just ordered the new signage for Forte Crest when the takeover took place and we had to scrap the whole thing and when you’re talking about signs the size of a two-storey house that doesn’t come cheap,” he says.
In fact, it cost about £1 million.
“I just had to tell myself that it wasn’t my money and console myself in that.”
Overcoming this obstacle - and the fact that he was still living in Lichfield and travelling to Heathrow - it was not an ideal time.
“Nevertheless I look back on it with some pride and when it was all finished there was a great deal of personal satisfaction.
“It was probably the hardest I have ever worked but when I go back down now, even six years on I still think ‘This looks great’. It’s exactly how I envisaged it.”
All the lessons he learned in that project he has brought to the Plaza refurbishment - and it is very important that he has.
For while the reputation of the Crowne Plaza brand is on the line, so is his own.
“I’m now a franchisee,” he says.
The hotel, although it bears the Crowne Plaza brand, is now owned by Centre Island, which bought the facility in 2005.
Centre Island is a Merseyside based, privately funded limited company specialising in the development and management of award-winning internationally branded franchised hotels.
The high profile portfolio consists of Crowne Plaza Liverpool, Crowne Plaza Birmingham City Centre, Express by Holiday Inn hotels at Albert Dock and John Lennon Airport, Holiday Inn hotels in Liverpool, Ellesmere Port, Preston and the exclusive 62 Castle Street Liverpool.
A further Crowne Plaza hotel in the vibrant northern quarter of Manchester’s city centre, is the company’s latest venture.
Its current annualised group turnover is £32 million and with 800 employees across the eight hotels, it is Merseyside’s largest hotel employer.
“What we have done is brought back a great international brand for the city and we wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t have confidence in the city.
“Our investment - which includes the cost of buying the hotel as well as the refurbishment - is significant. In all fairness, Centre Island could have taken that money anywhere in Europe but they have faith in Birmingham and that is why they have invested here,” he says.
“They want to take the business forward. They take decisions aggressively - and positively. If they see an opportunity then they go for it.
“What they have done has been a risk in some ways because of what was going on but from the feedback we have received then we know it as been well received.”
He admits that he wasn’t sure whether he was going to fit into the new structure, having worked in a corporate environment for so long.
“Where I was, I was a conduit in the large company and had to disseminate that into the business. That’s now been turned on its head and it’s about what I do to make the team work. I don’t own the business but I have to make it work,” he says.
So is he happy with what’s taken place.
“This hotel was built in 1973 and so there were limitations but the architects have done well considering the constraints.
“We have taken over the shops facility on the ground floor and we now have a very different restaurant and bar offering. We used to occupy just a quarter of the downstairs.
“We have added another 30 bedrooms from the second floor conferencing facilities and now have a dedicated conferencing floor rather than having it spread around the hotel as we did before. It works better because it’s easier to serve.
“There is also a new function room at the front linking into 10 meeting rooms. This improves the offering considerably. We also have 56 superior quality bedrooms and with the new conference facilities, we have a well rounded business with the right capacity for the business model.”
It is now seeking new business and is refusing to let the credit crunch prove an obstacle.
“We are looking for UK-based business and are targeting everyone from blue chip financials to charities. We will also be moving back into the weddings market.
“We will be welcoming back Rotary for its 100th anniversary next year and the business market is still holding up.”
Weekends are still a challenge, he admits, although Birmingham’s new found fame as a shopping mecca is helping this, while the Broad Street offering and the city’s new nightlife is also luring visitors.
As a regular commuter into the city - he travels in from Lichfield by train every day - he also recognises how important the redevelopment of New Street will be to the city.
“As a commuter it’s perfectly functional but it’s not that great an experience,” he says. “The redevelopment will improve things considerably.”
So after such an investment in his hotel, who would be his ideal guests and why?
“I would like to have Gordon Ramsay and Erin O’Connor or other style icons staying here, ideally because they would feel comfortable visiting the hotel.”
He admits he would love to sit down with the F-Word and Hells Kitchen host and discuss the state of the hotel and restaurant industry with him.
He also feels sure he could convince Jeremy Clarkson that the city can now compete in the fine dining stakes - or maybe that should be steaks!
“I remember him once saying that he had come to Birmingham and couldn’t find a lobster supper anywhere. I defy him to say that today,” he says.
Mr Mason says this is, an example of how far Birmingham has come in terms of its service offering.
This is why, despite what others might see as contradictory, he is pleased that a new five star hotel is heading for the city.
“Some might find it odd that I would support such a move but we are not a five star hotel so we aren’t in direct competition.
“I think the move by Westin is significant and will enhance the city’s offering. I would hope that people would say the same of us,” he says.
So, how did the son of a farmer - although born in Barston, just outside Solihull, his family lived in the village of Ilmington, just outside Chipping Campden - end up in the hotel business?
“My family are in farming. I had an older brother who was always going to take over the business.
“I didn’t want to do this and intended to move into a business that was less intensive, less 24/7 and so I went into hotels which bizarrely, are very intensive 24/7 operations that never shut.
“Perhaps it’s something in the genes because I learned that my grandfather used to run a catering supply company in Birmingham, although I never visited it,” he says.
“I used to do some gardening on a large estate in the village to get some pocket money. One day there was a guest on the estate who ran a country house hotel in Cirencester, called Stratton House Hotel. I had done my A levels and I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do so he said ‘Why don’t you come down and work in the restaurant. We’ve got accommodation’. I went for a year and became restaurant manager, which is bizarre when I think about it because of my lack of knowledge as a restaurant.
“After that I made the decision that I needed to get some management qualifications and went to college in Torquay, which is a great place. Shortly after that I joined Crest Hotels and my career began,” he says.
His first appointment was at the Crest Hotel, South Mimms. It had high occupancy because of the London overspill and it was a successful business to run. He then did various jobs around the country until his first general manager position came up at a 100 bed hotel in Bolton.
He then progressed up the chain - armed with a simple but important business philosophy - listen to the customer and give them what they want.
“I still use that approach today and it has never let me down,” he says.
Away from work and for someone who spends his time in such opulent surroundings, his choice of holiday may seem odd - but then again, maybe not.
“I enjoy camping - anything that gets me out of a hotel. Anything else would seem like a busman’s holiday.”
That’s not to say he hasn’t stayed in hotels and just like everyone else, he has some horror stories as well.
“We went to one on a family holiday and when we got there they claimed not to have had our reservation, however, I knew what was going on - they had just overbooked but didn’t want to say so.
“Anyway they put the matter right and found us alternative accommodation.”
Away from work, the 50-year-old has one important outlet - hockey.
“I captain the men’s fifth team at Lichfield and it’s great. It’s such a release for me and I won’t have any of this nonsense that it’s all about taking part, it not - it’s about winning.”
This attitude would go a long way towards explaining why the new-look Crowne Plaza is unlikely to fail - so long as he is in charge.
